Chapter 4: Saving Me

It was against most people's, including the president's, better judgment that the head of the SGC leave to go rescue a missing team on the chance that they were captured by the enemy. Apparently the word of a former goa'uld system lord and a slightly ascended archaeologist didn't hold much reliability in the minds of the Pentagon.

But if Ba'al and Daniel told Jack that Sam was in danger, you could bet your bottom dollar he'd be out the gate in a flash to go save her. It was the least he could do to pay her back for all the times she saved his ass.

"O'Neill, I do not think this is a wise idea," Teal'c said as they pulled their BDU's on.

Jack sighed, fidgeting with the zipper of his vest. "Not a lot of people do, T. But we never leave a man behind…or woman, for that matter."

"I merely meant that arriving on Jupiter's planet by way of the Stargate may not be the best tactical approach."

"Look, I talked to Thor about this," Jack said. "Apparently Jupiter's got the planet surrounded with his fleet. I think gating over is the only way we'll get in."

"Is it not possible we will be captured ourselves?"

"That's always a possibility." Jack finished getting his gear together and headed down to the gate room. As he was standing in the elevator, a familiar voice sounded in his ear.

"Bit hard to convince people, isn't it?"

"Jesus, Danny!" Jack had jumped slightly. "Don't just sneak up on me like that! How's Carter doing?"

"Sorry," Daniel was leaning against one of the walls, his hands in his pockets. "She's not doing horribly…not doing good, either, but Ahmnen's keeping her alive and fairly healthy."

"Who?"

"The symbiote they're supposed to give to Jacob. He blended with Sam because they didn't think his host would make it back to Earth."

Jack gave Daniel a confused look then shook his head. "Wait…I thought you ascended beings weren't allowed to interfere?"

"Heh," Daniel looked sheepish. "Well…right now the ancients are all too busy watching Oma and Anubis fight it out, so I'm sorta slipping in under the radar."

"Or it could be that you just care about Carter more than me."

"No…Jack, more lives than just Sam's hang in the balance here…Jacob's, Ahmnen's, the other members of Sam's team…Ok, well…only Major Gosling…she's the only one that's still alive…"

"Danny." Jack stared at Daniel. "Get your ass back over there and do whatever you can to keep Carter and Gosling alive, ok?"

"I can't… Oh, ok, fine, I'm going."

When Jack stepped out of the elevator into the hall, he was alone.

"Sam."

Sam looked up as a voice that wasn't hers or Ahmnen's filtered through the throbbing pain in her head. A faint glow was filling her previously darkened cell, and when her eyes managed to focus, she recognized the figure standing over her to be Daniel.

"Daniel?" She whispered.

Daniel knelt by her, giving her a pitying look. "Help's on the way, Sam, you just have to hang on."

"Major Gosling…" Sam's voice trailed off.

"Yeah," Daniel winced. "I saw what happened to her…I'm sorry."

Sam shook her head. Now that she was actually awake she was beginning to feel slightly better. Part of her realized that if it wasn't for Ahmnen she would have ended up the same way Major Gosling and the others did…dead.

"We're going to make it, Sam." Ahmnen's voice was weak, and Sam knew that all this was taking as much a toll on him as it was on her.

The door opened and two Fades walked in, grabbing Sam without really touching her and hauling her to her feet. She looked around for Daniel, but her friend seemed to have vanished. The Fades dragged her down the hall to the room where Jupiter sat on a throne. He got to his feet as Sam was tossed to the floor before him.

"Let's try this again, shall we?" he said, bearing down on her with the strange hand device that was similar to the one Sam was familiar with, and yet more complex. "Perhaps you will be more cooperative." He pulled Sam to him, her back against his chest, and held the hand device to the back of her neck. Pain shot down her spine. "I will ask you again, Tok'ra, what is the address of the rebel's hiding place?"

"I...don't…know-!" Sam snarled. "I'm not a Tok'ra!"

"Do not lie!" Jupiter turned her around, pushing her up against a wall and glaring at her hard in the eye. "I can sense the symbiote within you…and how else would you have survived so much unless you had something healing you?"

"I don't know the address," Sam forced herself to stay strong, to tilt her chin up and look the goa'uld straight in the eye. "And if I did, I wouldn't tell you."

Jupiter shrugged, raising the strange hand device once again. "Your loss…"

"My friends will rescue me."

"Hmmm…" Jupiter chuckled. "They will, will they? Tell me, Tok'ra, do you have a lover who's waiting for you? A mate that would brave uncountable dangers to find you?"

Unconsciously, Sam's eyes widened.

Jack…

That small, flash of emotion turned out to be a mistake. Jupiter's eyes glowed and he let out another deep chuckle. "Then I think I've been going about this all the wrong way."

"Oh no…Sam…Let me take over, please, let me spare you this…" Ahmnen's voice was panicked inside Sam's head.

"No, I need to do this."

Sam struggled against Jupiter's hold on her; he'd shifted, pinning her to the wall with one strong arm across her shoulders, holding her there with all the force of his body while his free hand came up to lightly stroke her face. Her feet were still free, though, and she kicked him with all her strength, knocking him backwards.

"Meretrix!" he grunted, glaring at Sam before raising the hand device. A bolt of energy threw Sam against the wall. Her head slammed against the hard stone and she crumpled to the ground, feeling blood running down her chin but not having the strength to wipe it away.

Jupiter strode over to her then reached down, pulling Sam up by the collar of her shirt. Her head was throbbing almost unbearably, and she couldn't even hear Ahmnen anymore. But still she forced herself to stand, to not show any weakness. Just like a good soldier.

A wicked smile twisted Jupiter's face as he once again pushed Sam against the wall. He leaned closer and she found she didn't have the strength to struggle against him, even as his lips grazed over hers and his tongue licked at the blood on the corner of her mouth.

"Ahmnen…"

Her body tensed suddenly, and Jupiter looked up just in time to see her eyes glow briefly. A second later Ahmnen shoved Jupiter away, quickly wiping the blood off her face.

"So you've decided to finally show yourself," Jupiter said, chortling. "You're host too weak to go on?"

"Samantha Carter is a strong woman," Ahmnen replied, glaring at Jupiter. "I simply will not tolerate any more disrespect towards her."

Jupiter raised his hand that had the hand device wrapped around it, flattening his palm and making the stone in the center glow. "As you see, Tok'ra, I have the advantage."

Ahmnen drew herself up defiantly, continuing to glare at Jupiter. The hand device began to glow brighter, energy building up around it. Jupiter's eyes flashed.

Several things happened simultaneously in the following moments. Jupiter released the bolt of energy, slamming Ahmnen into the wall just as Jack and the others burst through the door. In the ensuing chaos Jupiter let loose some sort of flash bomb, and by the time everyone had regained their senses, the goa'uld had vanished.

Jack ran over to Sam's limp form, gently putting his hand behind her head to get her into a sitting position. He felt something wet on his fingers and looked to see blood matting Sam's short blond hair. "Carter?"

It was Ahmnen, however, who looked up at Jack through the clouded blue eyes. "Samantha Carter is gravely injured," the Tok'ra said, her voice weak and breathing labored. "I'm afraid that to heal her I must…must…" her eyes drooped shut and body went limp.

Jack lifted the limp form, then nodded to Teal'c. "Lets check for the others, then get the hell out of here…"

Usually when someone wakes up, they have a sense of how long they have been asleep. When Sam awoke she had the distinct feeling that she had been asleep; she just couldn't figure out how long. The first thing she noticed upon regaining consciousness was that Ahmnen's presence was gone from her mind. The second thing, that she had a horribly sore throat.

Opening her eyes, she was grateful to see her father sitting by her bed. "Hey, dad," her voice was rough.

"Hello, sweetheart." Jacob smiled, smoothing a hand over her forehead. "How's my little girl feeling?" It was almost like when Sam was a young girl and home sick in bed, on one of those rare days that her father had off.

"Horrible," Sam grinned, then gave Jacob a questioning look. "Is Ahmnen…?"

"He says hello," Jacob reported. "He'd also like to thank you for getting him back here, and to apologize for the sore throat. The blending process was difficult with you so out of it."

"You two getting along?"

Jacob nodded. "I'm honored to be a host for any Tok'ra who saved my daughter's life."

Sam smiled, reaching for her father's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. Jacob looked up to the observation window and beckoned to someone on the other side who Sam couldn't see.

"There's someone here whose been waiting to see you," Jacob said, his voice strangely flat and devoid of emotion. He stood up and patted Sam's hand before leaving the room.

For a brief second Sam's hope flared that it would be Jack who entered; but instead it was Pete. He walked over and kissed Sam lightly before sitting down in the chair next to the bed.

"Hey, Sam," he said, taking her hand in his. "How're you doing?"

Sam shrugged. "Drowsy and sore…how long was I out?"

"A couple days…" Pete's brow furrowed, and he rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. "I was so worried…when they contacted me and told me you were injured…" his voice trailed off.

"I'm going to be fine, though," Sam tried to sound and look reassuring.

Pete smiled. "Good, because I'd hate to lose you right before our wedding."

Yeah…about that….

As if he had read her mind, Pete quickly added, "Of course, we can wait until you're recovered. I wouldn't want to cause more damage."

Sam managed a weak smile. "Thanks."

Jack folded his arms over his chest as he looked down into the room at Sam and Pete. Sam was looking a lot better, and she even smiled a couple times at something Pete said. Jack felt his heart give an involuntary twinge at this.

He'd spent so much of the past seven years forcing himself to not care, forcing his emotions to stop racing around and his heart to stop pounding each time she looked at him. Nights off-world could be the worst; they were often the times when his resolve was pushed to the limits. Sometimes when ice-cold wind and rain were lashing their tent, it became almost unbearable as they were forced to huddle together for mere survival's sake.

But the most he'd ever done was slip an arm around her waist, or nuzzle his face against her soft neck. And neither ever mentioned it the next morning.

You're making a very big mistake…

Kerry's words echoed in his head. Yeah, he was making a big mistake. He knew it. But so long as Pete Shanahan was in the picture, there wasn't really anything he could do about it.

Jack sighed, giving the couple down in the observation room one last look before turning and walking away.

It wasn't until well after Pete had left that Sam looked up and was surprised to see Daniel walking in. for a few minutes she just stared at him, trying to discern if he was really there or she was just having some sort of hallucination.

"Daniel?" She said finally.

"Yep, it's really me…" Daniel smiled, walking over. "Fully corporeal again, so before you throw a shoe at me…" he chuckled, pulling up a chair and sitting down next to the bed.

Sam frowned, reaching out to touch his cheek. Satisfied, she nodded. "Good, I thought I was going crazy…er…crazier."

"Nope, not crazy," Daniel replied. "Jack might be going crazy though, specially after I descended naked in the middle of his office…" the archaeologist got an uncharacteristically cheeky expression on his face.

"Oh God…" Sam rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, it's getting late, I should let you sleep." Daniel stood up and put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "I just wanted to make sure you were doing ok."

Sam nodded, giving her friend a grateful smile. She watched him leave, then closed her eyes and sunk down into the pillow, finally able to drift into a peaceful sleep.

A/N – Just thought I should mention this for those of you who don't speak Ancient or Latin, the word Jupiter calls Sam , "Meretrix", basically means "whore" in Latin ;)